Trouble Sleeping
by inner harmonies
Summary: Jeanne seems to be having some anxiety considering her marriage. But what more could there to be concerned about once both the wedding and the honeymoon are done and over with? - Possible spoilers. Rated T just to be safe. RxJ. Very fluffy.


A/N: Heya! First fic here, and this is loosely based on the final chapters of Shaman King. Spoilers ahead, warning you now. :D Apparently Ren and Jeanne got married and had a child. Which might explain why a few fics of these two have been popping up as of late. So! Forgive me if the information was false. And the following takes place sometime by the time Jeanne and Ren came home from the honeymoon.

Dedicated to a dear friend of mine who's slowly making me love this pairing. :3 Reviews would be highly appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King or the characters within it.

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This was not something that she was prepared for. She constantly glanced back at the doorway; perhaps she could quickly pretend that she wasn't sleepy. After all, it wouldn't be a complete lie. For once, the Iron Maiden had the jitters.

Butterflies were in her stomach, like that silly bubbly filling when you were first realized that you had romantic feelings for someone. She bit her lip as she became moderately embarrassed at that thought, since she was past that phase. Or at least, for the most part she was. She was a newlywed, after all. Considering that, she was bound to be permitted her moments of air-headedness. But that wasn't what her problem was at that point.

Her husband seemed to not have the same issue that she had. In fact, he seemed to be settled rather peacefully, and if she didn't know better, she would have guessed that he had already drifted to sleep. Although even the promise of having him close to her did nothing to settle her anxiety what-so-ever.

By now she was sure that a blush had spread to her face, if only because she found it silly that she was so nervous about this. Even glancing down at the ring on her finger, it took most of her self-control to not make an excuse and stay up for another hour or so then and there. There was also her sense of pride however, since she was now a Tao. And with that, there was a little statement that rang in the back of her mind, addressing her fears.

A Tao does not fear sharing a bed with their spouse.

That thought could only elevate her anxiety and bring back more than fond memories of the honeymoon. Oh, she had no problem falling asleep _then_, of course. But she was tired and it was only to be expected that she could drift off to sleep without impediment.

Now, she found herself within the confines of their now shared room, with nothing but a very vague feeling of sleepiness. Surely she couldn't fall asleep with just _that_ on her shoulders. Not when she felt that the sense of sleepiness would probably go away rather quickly with the electricity she could practically feel in her veins.

"Something wrong?"

Her husband's voice broke her thoughts, and she could hear the rustling of the sheets as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes. It wasn't quite much annoyance as much as it was a mix of confusion and just… exhaustion.

She gave a bit of a nervous laugh and made a waving motion with her hand before giving a small smile, "Oh, nothing…. wrong, per say. I'm just… unsure if I'm exactly sleepy right now. Perhaps I'll go see if the guards need anything…" she surprised herself by managing to get that out without stuttering. She began to crawl out of the bed and reach for her robe before she felt his hand wrap around her wrist. This caused her to pause and internally curse herself for forgetting his reflexes, but she still managed to smile and ask innocently, "Yes, dear?"

"Don't 'yes, dear' me," he responded before yawning (which, she couldn't help but comment to herself, was adorable). He tugged lightly on her wrist as she crawled back onto the bed and sat on her knees. It was clear that he wasn't quite enjoying the fact that he wasn't asleep yet. Although it was more of grumpiness than actual anger at her, "You're uncomfortable with something."

"What… makes you say that?" she asked cautiously. His guess was right on, but it was more of a mild avoidance of the subject rather than insisting that she was fine.

He sighed. Just that; and he knew the effect it would have on her. That simple release of breath annoyed her so, as if an explanation wasn't worth his time.

She tried to communicate her displeasure to him with a simple pout, before a small "hmph" and turning her back to him. It was childish she knew, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Perhaps if she was annoying enough, he wouldn't have a problem with her killing time for about an hour until she was ready to fall asleep.

But he would have none of that.

Her mind could hardly register the amount of time it took for him to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her towards him, whilst his hand moved from her wrist to cover her mouth so as to muffle the startled noise that the sudden movement evoked from her.

"R-Ren…" she tried to say, but that came out muffled as well until she forcefully moved his hand. It seemed all for not however, as it was difficult for her to perform entirely coherent thoughts. After a moment of being a bit rigid in his arms, she released a breath she wasn't completely aware she was holding. Leaning back against him a bit, his hold on her only tightened. It was silent for a moment as she relaxed and took the chance to calm her nerves.

His smugness was practically radiating off from him, and she could quite easily imagine the smirk placed on his face. She laughed a bit at that, and if he was confused by it, he said nothing.

"What's wrong?" He asked rather bluntly as he leaned back against the headboard, assuming this talk would probably take a while. She curled up against him and folded her legs to the side, settling herself rather comfortably on his lap. Ren had still yet to relinquish his hold.

This brought back a small portion of her insecurities, although it was difficult to become entirely nervous when his warmth and secure hold could only have a calming effect on her. "Oh…" she began, stalling for time as she gathered her thoughts. "Perhaps just a bit of cold feet." It was a soft reply, and her intonation could almost make it seem like a question. She was barely able to comprehend it herself; so did he really expect her to be able to communicate it to him as well?

And it was clear that he didn't seem to understand it either, "Isn't that what happens _before_ the wedding?"

She laughed again, softly to herself. His lack of understanding amused her so, "It's not that type of cold feet. I have no confusion or paranoia about whether or not I'm marrying, or should I say _married_, the right person."

One of his hand snaked across her stomach, pulling her closer to him once more, almost as a type of reassurance. She smiled softly, and reached for his hand before entwining their fingers. He may have seen it as a bit of mushy, over-done romance, but while she acknowledged the thought, she paid it no mind. After all, it wasn't like he could deny her the small things that made her happy.

"Then what's the issue here?"

"Well…" she began, before realizing that she couldn't quite finish that statement. What had been the problem? The bed was comfy, he was warm, and all her complaints and issues had somehow faded away amidst it all.

Without another thought to the subject, she used her hands to pry away his grip on her, and moved so that she was no longer sitting on him but rather next to him. The confused and sleepy look on his face made her giggle once more before placing a quick kiss on his cheek and stating rather happily in his ear, "No issue."

The Chinese shaman raised an eyebrow before allowing a bit of his annoyance to show. "So you're saying that you just deprived me of some very precious minutes of sleep simply because you had an issue that could be easily resolved?"

"I did offer to leave, you know," she pointed out. During the years of their courtship, she had learned to not back down on his every remark. Just because he was irritated, and both physically and mentally drained did not mean that she would give up her defense.

He scoffed in response, "Yeah, yeah." Jeanne could only guess that he would have argued more if he wasn't tired. He sank back down into a laying position, and she did the same, quiet settling as they did.

Once settled underneath the blankets and as he rolled over with a yawn and a sleepy mumble, she bit her lip as she could feel a bit of that anxiety once again making its way into her stomach. The silence began to fill the room, and she had neither his embrace nor any of his other attentions to keep her mind occupied.

It wasn't too long before she realized that it was her husband that could most effectively soothe her, even if he was doing nothing special. Simply having him _there_ was enough. While his touch would normally stimulate her senses, in the middle of the night it calmed her with no actual reason about it.

Giving in to one of her more basic desires, she scooted a bit closer to him and tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder. He immediately complied with a grunt and turned over, snaking an arm around her waist almost instinctively. She couldn't help but wonder if he understood her insecurities, though the actual problem remained unspoken between them. Quite forcefully pushing that thought aside, she opted for moving a bit closer, and she placed a hand on his chest and rested her head against him.

"… thank you," she whispered, silently promising that this would be the last exchange of words for the night.

She glanced up at him, and could see the corner of his mouth turned up into a smirk, "… hn."

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A/N: And! Any advice as to how to write this pairing more efficiently would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading~


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